Visiting Hours
by Katia-chan
Summary: Christmas is supposed to be a time for joy and laughter. But when Malik walks into the hospital room of one of his closest friends, he doesn't see the light of christmas anywhere. RR plz! flames used for coco.


Visiting hours  
  
A/N: Here's a Christmas fic for yall. I know it's a day late, but my brother got a new computer game and he was playing it all last night.so I couldn't finish it! *is sad*  
  
Anywho, I did have another holiday fic planned, but my inspiration for this was stronger, and I've got to go with what I can get.  
  
Hope you enjoy this waste of space. And leave a review!  
  
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Malik Ishtar trudged sullenly down the hallways of the Domino Hospital. It was bad enough that he had had to spend Christmas here, due to Isis's insistence that they visit an old aunt, but now she had insisted that, instead of moping he should go visit people. He had thought about it and then dashed the idea. He was in a gloomy enough mood; Christmas was his least favorite time of the year. He didn't want to spread his "cheer" around a place that didn't need anymore depression.  
  
The white hallways were a horrible sight to behold. The hospital had tried to make it look festive. The limp trees in pots in every corner were a lame attempt, and the lights that had half the bulbs dulled made the corridors seem darker and drearier.  
  
He was just about ready to give this up, go back to Isis and listen to her try and talk to the old coot. It was dull, but nothing compared to this. He had started to turn when he heard giggling coming from an open door just ahead of him. He walked forward and peeked in the door.  
  
He recognized Jounouchi Katsuya. He was sitting in a dingy room next to a girl. Malik assumed that this must be his sister Shizuka that Yugi-tachi always talked about. She was lying in a bed, bandages covering half of her face, but she was laughing. Jounouchi was tickling her ribs.  
  
"Stop Jou!" The girl shrieked in delight.  
  
"Nah, you don't want me to stop, come ere you." He grabbed one of her feet and began tickling. She squealed and tried to get away. Malik watched as she suddenly went pale and clutched her face.  
  
"Zuka, are you alright?" Jounouchi dropped her foot and rushed to the head of the bed.  
  
"Yah, I'm fine Ni-chan."  
  
"Are you sure? Do you want me to call a nurse?" She gave a giggle and rubbed her temples.  
  
"I'm sure, now will you stop being a mother and sit down?" he patted her head and kissed her cheek. Malik walked away.  
  
That had been a different side of Jounouchi that he had never seen. The Katsuya he knew was always hot headed, ready to start a fight. This boy was kind and brotherly, gentle and loving. He came close, oh so close to smiling, but didn't.  
  
While he was at it he decided to take Isis up on her suggestion. Seeing the Katsuya's had warmed him to the idea, but he didn't think he'd go in. He just wanted to see the people.  
  
He approached the next door. The girl known as Anzu sat in a room full of children, they were all surrounding a bed where an old woman lay, smiling. Anzu grabbed a package from a pile in the corner.  
  
"Here you go grandma, this is from my family." The old woman smiled and opened the package. Malik found himself almost as excited to know what it was, which was rare for him. The old woman tore open the package and found a knitted scarf.  
  
"That is so beautiful Anzu dear." The woman gushed.  
  
"I. uh, made it." Anzu Said, blushing. There was a clamor and Malik moved off.  
  
He shied away from the next room. Yugi Motou sat next to a bed, chatting with someone who he had never seen. When he saw a folder on Yugi's lap he knew it must be a project of some sort. He had no desire to talk to or be seen by Yugi. That wouldn't make the holidays better for either of them.  
  
He passed an office where Seto Kaiba sat across a desk from a nervous looking man.  
  
"Alright, I'll give a donation, since its Christmas." Seto handed him a check and the man's eyes widened.  
  
"Thank you Mr. Kaiba." Gods, was he going to see everyone here tonight? Wasn't anyone at home?  
  
He decided he'd look into the rest of the rooms on that side of the hall and then go back to Isis. All the doors on the other side were closed and dark. He continued on and found the next door open to contain a woman, sitting by herself among mounds of flowers. She was sitting there, immersed in the knitting in her lap, occasionally taking a large whiff. From the outside she would've looked happy, but he saw loneliness in her eyes. It touched him just a little, and he took the bouquet that his aunt had given him for a present (she seemed not to know who she was giving it to) Flowers were more often a kindling for him, but he had saved the bunch and now he knocked on the door.  
  
"Come in." the woman said, looking up at him. He strolled in and set the flowers on the only spare surface.  
  
"Merry Christmas." He murmured. She squinted at him for a long time and then looked apologetic.  
  
"I am so sorry, but do I know you?" he chuckled and shook his head.  
  
"Nope, just passing by and thought you could use some company."  
  
"Well, thank you for that, it was getting a little lonely here. My sister's coming later, but she had other plans she had to attend to."  
  
"Well, I wish you the best; I have to be off though."  
  
"Really?" she looked disappointed, and he would've stayed if his good mood hadn't been fading among all the flowers.  
  
"Yes, maybe I'll stop by later, but I really have to go back to my sister. Merry Christmas." He left before she could ask him about Isis.  
  
There were only 2 doors left. He peaked in one and saw a young girl and her mother, the girl was reading a book while her mother wrote something. There were a line of stitches down the girl's face and her lavender hair fell around her shoulders, touching where another line went across her shoulder.  
  
They didn't seem to need any company so he moved to the last room.  
  
The door was wide open and there was screaming coming from it. Despite himself he stood and looked in. A young woman was standing in the middle of the room. A man was holding her tightly and she was screaming at the top of her lungs.  
  
"Amane! My Amane! Where is she?!" She thrashed against the man holding her.  
  
"Stop it leiko!" he screamed at her.  
  
"What have you done with my daughter! Where is Amane!"  
  
"You need to stop this! Amane's gone!"  
  
"No! No! No! Not on Christmas!" the woman screamed. She gave one mighty jerk and then fell limp in the man's arms, sobbing and groaning. A few nurses stood in the room, as well as a doctor.  
  
"Get her sedated; this isn't going to be easy for her." A nurse took out a syringe and gently grabbed the woman's arm.  
  
"This is going to just be a little prick." The woman didn't even acknowledge and when the fluid had been injected she simply went limp.  
  
"I have a room where you can bring her." Malik finally looked away from the woman to the corner where a younger boy with long snow white hair stood, hugging himself and shivering. He recognized this boy from Battle City. It was Ryou Bakura, and these must be his parents.  
  
No one seemed to be paying attention to the boy as his mother was laid on a gurney and wheeled out of the room.  
  
"Leave the little girl's body here while we go see to her mother, then we'll come back for her." They walked out of the room, leaving another gurney behind them, and Ryou. He stood by himself in the middle of the room, shivering uncontrollably, and then he slowly advanced towards the sheet covered bed. His hand trembled as he touched the sheet, and then he gently pulled it away.  
  
Malik had seen no tears from Ryou the entire time he stood in that room and listened to his mother brake down, but with one look at the face under the sheet he began to sob.  
  
"I'm so sorry Amane-chan, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If I had been gentler with you this never would've happened. I'm so sorry. Please don't leave me here alone?" he seemed to plead with the girl. Malik studied her face. Her skin was pale, translucent. Her long white hair hung around her thin face and gave her the look of an angel. She was very small and very thin. Ryou clutched her hand and got on his knees. He was begging for her to return.  
  
"Please come back, please . . . please!" Malik had always known Ryou to be strong. He had always been the strong silent one, but now it appeared that, left alone with his grief, that it would break him. He watched Ryou's defenses crumble. He was familiar with death. He knew the stages. The first shock, then the realization, and then the crushing grief. Ryou had gone through all of these extremely quickly. His pain was killing him too.  
  
He just had to; he couldn't just stand there and watch the boy suffer. He walked into the room and placed a hand on Ryou's shoulder. He looked up and looked somewhat surprised to see him.  
  
"Hello." He said softly, choking on the tears that he was trying to hold back.  
  
"Hey Ryou. This your sister?" he asked gently. Tears began to fall again and Ryou simply nodded.  
  
"Amane." He whispered, clutching Malik's hand in his own and crying harder then ever.  
  
"I am so sorry Ryou." He said, at a loss. He couldn't say it would be alright. Those were hallow words that meant nothing. There was nothing that could be said, everything meant nothing. He realized that Ryou needed to get away from his sister. He took Ryou's hand off of hers and gently put the sheet back over the still girl's face. Then he lifted Ryou off the floor and put him on the bed that already occupied the room. It felt as if Ryou hadn't eaten in days, he looked and felt so light and thin.  
  
Once he had the boy situated he sat down next to him.  
  
"What happened to her?" Ryou was silent for a long time and when he finally answered Malik could barely hear the word.  
  
"Cancer." Malik felt pity swell up inside him, as much for the little girl as for Ryou. From the way she looked it was as if the disease had eaten everything.  
  
"She was sick for a long time?" Ryou nodded miserably.  
  
"2 years. The doctors couldn't treat it because she was so young." Ryou buried his face in Malik's shoulder and began to sob. His entire body shivered with the force of the tears. Malik didn't know what to say, so he dipped back into his childhood, when his dog had died, and Isis had told him a story to make it better. This was far from a dog's death, but the story might help. At least it would soothe Ryou if nothing else.  
  
"Can I tell you an old story my sister told me?" Ryou said nothing, so he took that as a sign to continue.  
  
"Alright, well, way way way back, in the ancient times of Egypt, there was a god named Osiris. He was the king of the world, the head god. He had a wife named Isis. They ruled the world peacefully. Isis was known for her wisdom and Osiris for his grate ruling." Malik drew a breath, hating how this old myth was starting to sound like a fairy tale, but it seemed to be calming Ryou somewhat. The shaking had stopped and he simply cried softly. The tears were slowly giving way to hiccups and whimpers.  
  
"Anyway, Osiris had a brother named Set, who was jealous. He had plans to overthrow the ruler of Egypt, so he had a party, with a box and he said that whoever could fit in the box would win a special gift. All the men tried, and Osiris was the only one who could fit. When he got in Set shut the top and hacked the box into pieces and threw it into the desert." He felt Ryou slightly flinch. That was a good sign.  
  
"Isis, his wife, was so upset that she cried for days, and her tears created the grate river. One day she was walking by her river and she saw children playing. She asked them if they had seen any pieces of a box. They showed her a pile of them, and inside were her husband's remains. She wove them together in cloth. Osiris was alive again, and in his mummified state they had a child before he had to return to the underworld. There son was Horus, who eventually grew up to defeat Set. So, Ryou, You can see that the dead are never far away." He looked down at the half albino leaning on him and saw that he was lying silently. The tears were done.  
  
The door opened and the man from earlier stuck his head in, his eyes avoiding the body of his daughter.  
  
"Ryou, it's time to leave." Ryou got up from the bed. Malik squeezed his hand as he left and held it, causing Ryou to pause.  
  
"She'll be back someday."  
  
"Thank you Malik." He whispered. Malik gave a half smile.  
  
"Merry Christmas Ryou." The teen smiled back and followed his father out of the room, leaving Malik alone with Amane. He went over to where her body lay. Lifting the sheet he stared at her face and picked up her hand, which was getting stiff and cold.  
  
"I know you, you'll be back, I can see it in your face." As he lowered the sheet he brushed a white curl out of her face.  
  
"Merry Christmas Amane Bakura. Come back soon." As he lowered the sheet he could've sworn he saw her wink, but he knew he was just going crazy, so he left.  
  
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A/N: Please don't kill me! I know that it was weird, and bad. The time line didn't match up with the actual series. In the series shizuka is in the hospital during or right before Battle City, and Amane actually died when Ryou was a little kid.  
  
The Egyptian myth is a real story, but I don't think it actually goes like that, I think I got parts of it wrong, but that's the way my friend told it to me, but I tried!  
  
Well, I hope you weren't too bored. Merry Christmas!  
  
TTFN  
  
Katia-chan 


End file.
